Waterworld - Stoke-on-Trent

Ebs M.

Great place for family day out. Swimming pool is a bit outdated but still beats others with slightly better theming. Don't look at rusty metal works and enjoy the waves and slides which are any age friendly, steps climb isn't too excessive and one doesn't have heart attack at middle age while climbing them, so one can still have fun in any age. They are trying stay on top of cleaning mess of pool and changing rooms. Again it does the job and it isn't too bad compared to some other pools. Restaurant offered quiet decent fried food with meal deals and share pallets, which was actually ok for fast food, but not too many healthy options, there was vegetarian Nd vegan option and beer for beer lovers. £5 refundable locker deposit, nice. £24 single entry and deal on family ticket or on dine or mini golf. Well it does come to a hundred at least for family of three with food but again kids have lots of fun. Viewing area for non paying customers isn't very comfortable or one can't see much unfortunately. Area is warm and one can sit and rest on chair and table. Website is very descriptive. Car park is about £6 if you stay 3 hours or more

RM P.

Came last year and really enjoyed it, went last weekend and my gosh the place has nose dived. Organised chaos. Came for my lads 11th birthday and there was a poo in the outdoor pool, which took some time to clean, the queue system for the rings makes no sense, one line at the right hand side all waiting for singles, then you see people just walk up the left hand side taking doubles, so I asked (as I was waiting for a double) oh is that what we do, when we need a double use the left lane. No you wait in a line, then if I see you are waiting for a double I’ll call you forward? Err… didn’t make much sense. As I waited another 2 - 3 mins and then said, yeah you can come forward now? Needs two seperate lines one for singles and one for doubles or a member of staff asking, you a two? Yep, cool. Come forward.

Then there are the queues on the stairs, swapping over mid stairway for one slide then the other over the various floors. We worked out at the very top, the queue was around 33 mins, mainly due to having one member of staff not only watching the ring one (possibly the cyclone) and then watching the (almost vertical ) slide at the same time. Just needs some actual management and some signage.
A lot of unhappy people complaining about the same things.
No mention that the blast slide was closed either, the one that’s like a rollercoaster and we are still waiting for a refund on our locker wrist bands.

So disappointed after such a great visit last year.

Wayyyy too many people in, no time limits or didn’t appear to be. Didn’t stay the full 3 hours of our slot because we all got bored of queuing, it was like human soup in the wave pool part.

Water was cold, some places were clean, but the changing rooms absolutely packed to the heavens and when you have cold kids, couldn’t find a changing room for ages.

Also adults walking about the pool area with trainers on and even when we raised it on hygiene concerns, they didn’t challenge it.

Don’t think we will be coming back again sadly. Only giving it a two because of the first time.

Emma B.

We spent a day at Waterworld during a heat wave when we visited the area from Scotland.

The girl on the desk was lovely and friendly.

We had issues using the QR code to pay for parking, so you're best using the machines outside. Parking was £6 for the duration we were there. I was actually surprised I had to pay to park. That's not common in Scotland. Most places have free car parks 😬

We paid, I think £96 for 2 adults and 2 children.

You pay £5 deposit for a locker wristband, which you get refunded when you leave. The changing area was very big, and very clean. There were also plenty of lockers.

There were a lot of slides, which was great 👍 and the outdoor pool was open, which was amazing when it was 27C outside 😅
My husband can't actually swim, so he was quite happy chilling in the bubble pools or outside.

My daughter, her friend, and I went on the slides, river rapids, the wave pool, outdoor pool, and outdoor bubble pool.

Lots of staff, and they were all being very attentive, giving clear instructions.

I can understand why people in other reviews seem concerned about cleanliness. I wouldn't say the place is "dirty", I saw them doing water checks several times when we were there. It's more that it's in need of quite a bit of maintenance. For example, the race slides paint is badly worn, there is obvious rust on the spiral stairs, all of the tops of the flumes are caked in dust, the fans above the python and blackhole are rusty and covered in dust. It's all quite easily sorted out.

The only thing I was actually concerned about was the bottom of the wave pool felt "slimey." You would try to jump with the wave, lose your footing, and you're straight under the water. I've been in many a wave pool lol that's not normal.

We got the supreme platter from the cafe, and that was enough for 4 people and pretty affordable. Drinks were very expensive, though.

Overall, we enjoyed our day and would happily come back if the maintenance issues were addressed.

Natalie M.

Lots of fun, but VERY busy! The queues can be very long, so be prepared, but it's generally worth it. Be careful on steps, I saw several people fall down the stairs, but no one really hurt themselves.
It wasn't obvious where to get the rings from, we had to ask, and the rapids were very small. The bigger slides make it all worth it though.
I bought two, difficult to please teenagers, and we all had fun

The S.

We have been looking forward to coming here with the kids since last year when we booked it.
Yesterday the day arrived for our visit and we travelled from Doncaster to Waterworld, quite a long journey but it looked worth it.
This place is NOT cheap. It costs £93 for a family of 4 with a £1 saving per person on the normal £24pp price. For this price, I expected amazing, and it's not really amazing tbh.

It's a good venue, but it could be soooo much better with some improvements.

Be prepared for a bag check to get in, I thought this was good and for safety reasons, not sure if someone would take a weapon or similar to a swimming baths, but then I realised they were actually looking for your own food. You are not allowed to bring your own food or drink i here. Waterworld insist that you eat the poor quality fast food junk they serve.

The changing rooms are huge but not the cleanest and smell like sweaty feet and stale urine.
Some of the changing cubicles lack any lighting so you can't see a thing. I didn't see anyone going around cleaning in the changing rooms so no surprise there was hair etc all over the floor.

Into the pool now. The main thing we found is that the water temperature is freezing. This is not because we are nesh, we heard other people saying the same.

Parts of Waterworld are looking very tired and in need of a refresh. The top of the slide tower where black hole, python and super flume is clearly used to be themed as a shipwreck. It needs replacing or a make over, looks tired.
The staircase up to these rides is very rusty and the queuing system needs enforcing. You end up waiting soooo long for the flumes to the right (twister and space bowl) because the stairs are blocked by people waiting for the other 3 slides.
Space bowl is very dated and would benefit from a link of paint. The pool at the top before you go down the slide is filthy and full of bits/dirt.
The queuing system up to thunderbolt and stormchaser is equally as frustrating as it is chaos on the stairs with no real direction from staff or signage.
People wanting to ride without a dinghy are blocked from getting to their slide by the LONG queues for platform 2 stormchaser.
On platform 2, there should be 2 lifeguards managing the 2 slides up there. This would speed things up but would make it safer too when the lifeguards back is turned.

The rapids are a bit pathetic
The jacuzzi pools weren't switched on and the water was the same temperature as everywhere else... freezing.

The food in the cafe is BAD it is overpriced junk food that you literally have no choice bit to eat. Surely the entrance price is enough to allow people to bring their own food in to eat so they can stay longer and enjoy their own healthy food.

We ended up having to order a cheeseburger meal deal for the eldest. This was £10.50 for a 'Rollover' processed and pre made cheeseburger with dries and a coke zero.

The youngest had a kiddies £8.99 meal deal, fries with 2 fish fingers (that have never seen fish) and a fruit shoot. It says it comes with a fruit bag but actually came with a packet of party ring biscuits.

My wife and I shared a £12.50 pepperoni pizza. This wasn't the best, basically a pre made pizza base with basic toppings.

I could see they offered jacket potatoes for £9.20 but i saw someone with one and it looked like a sorry example of a jacket spud.

Lifeguards" some were really friendly and attentive, others were rude and looked fed up. Tallulah was very good with the kids and looked like she loved her job. A credit to Waterworld.

It was a bit concerning to see security staff dressed like bouncers walking around the pool complex. Made me feel a little concerned. We saw some roudy groups of teenage lads nothing to warrant the patrolling 'heavies'.

Finally, you have to pay to park, £6 for the day. 😡

I don't want to go on anymore, I've made my point.
We have ticked this off the list of things we've wanted to do for a long time, we won't be coming back. It's good for aone off visit but it would need some real improvement for me to return.

Neeley C.

Great water park we had a fab day. I had read a lot of bad reviews but we found it pretty good. It was clean and yes some of the slides and steps are old. But it was brilliant fun and all the staff were amazing. It did get a bit too busy after 2pm. But if you get there early you can have a great few hours. The outside pool is lovely too and is heated. Will definitely be back. Thank you

Deb P.

Traveled down for our little boy’s birthday treat and he loved it! Went down the family multi slide first - that’s fun! Got a couple of gos on the hurricane before it got too busy. The outside pool is heated so even on a cool air day it was very pleasant. Staff are kind and friendly. Would def recommend for young kids (6 and 8)

Dan F.

Visited Today & Very Disappointed On The waiting Times to actually Get in there You time slot is 3 hrs but by the time you've qued Up and they've searched your bags your down 30 mins, The parking Is a disgraceful and it's traps you to pay £6 as your time slots are 3 hours so its £3 for 2 hrs and 15 mins then £6 For 10hrs But your only in there 3 hrs 🙄 and people get confused in the signs for the slides not knowing which que to wait in, Really need to sort it out ,But no they Would Rather check your bags , you also let to many ppl in. £9 for a jacket potato, The food is fresh just pricey, You wait along time when it's over packed, Staff Are always helpful STOP SEARCHING MY BAGS!! PRIVATE security guards in the UK do not have the legal right to touch or search anybody’s bags without their consent.